All week, we have talked about the truth that Jesus will return one day. For those of us who are followers of Christ, this truth motivates us to honor Him by the way we live our lives and gives us peace as we look toward the future. For those who have chosen not to place their faith in Christ, this truth compels them to turn to Christ and place their faith in Him. After all, eternal punishment apart from Christ is not what God wants for anyone. Scripture makes it clear that He wants everyone to experience an eternity with Him forever, and that is exactly why Jesus came: to rescue a world lost and dying in sin so that everyone who places their faith in Him would be saved.
Throughout Scripture, we learn that God’s hope for everyone is that they will believe in Him and place their faith in Him so that they will experience eternity with Him forever. Peter wrote about this hope in 2nd Peter 3. As he wrote in this chapter about the end times, he gave a reminder, saying, “You must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day” (verse 8). In other words, our timing is different from God the Father’s timing. We may feel like we have been waiting forever for Jesus’ return, but to God, it is as if only a day has passed. To those becoming impatient waiting for the return of Christ, Peter continued, saying, “The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent (verse 9). Why hasn’t Christ returned yet? He has not returned yet because He is giving more people an opportunity to place their faith in Him. In His love, kindness, mercy, and grace, He wants everyone to place their faith in Him.
Take a few moments to focus on the remarkable truth that God wants each and every person to spend eternity with Him forever. He did everything possible to rescue us. He sent Jesus, His one and only Son, at just the right time to pay the price for our sins on the cross. He gave us His word to teach us and guide us as we seek to follow Him. The question is, will we respond to His gracious gift of salvation through Jesus and place our faith in Him? Will we commit to sharing our faith with everyone around us so that they, too, will spend eternity with Him forever?
We must not keep the good news of eternal life that is available through Jesus Christ to ourselves. Who are you praying for who is far from Christ today? Take a few moments to pray for them now. Pray that God would make Himself known to them and that they would come to place their faith in Him. Commit to inviting them to join you at one of our weekend services, where they will hear the hope of Christ.
This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. 2 I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.
3 Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. 4 They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”
5 They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. 6 Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. 7 And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.[a]
11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
15 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— 16 speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.
Peter’s Final Words
17 You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. 18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.
